USO OFF LABEL DA FLUOXETINA E SUA PRESCRIÇÃO ABUSIVA POR MÉDICOS NÃO-PSIQUIATRAS.

Depression is a common psychiatric disorder, affecting, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), 350 million people worldwide. Despite this high prevalence in clinical populations, depression is still underdiagnosed, when properly diagnosed is treated incorrectly. Historically, since the discovery of antidepressants in 1950, most developed drugs for depression shows variable therapeutic effect, being common the occurrence of side effects and adverse effects. In the 80's, fluoxetine was discovered, which has the ability to inhibit the protein responsible for the reuptake of serotonin by the presynaptic neuron, which increases the amount of serotonin available at the synapse. An updated literature review was conducted in the databases PubMed, Scielo, Medline, BVS and academic books using articles published in Portuguese, English and Spanish in order to address the therapeutic use of fluoxetine, as ascertain its off-label use the prescription by doctors not psychiatrists and demonstrate the side effects. In short, it was observed that depression is being treated incorrectly due to underdiagnosis its off-label use for weight loss can bring health risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]